Annabelle Hydrangea

This row of hydrangeas was a gift from my mom several years ago. I'm never sure if I'm doing the right thing... cut it back in the fall, don't cut back, when to cut blooms for drying (I think I finally have that right, anyway. First they're green, then white, then green again ~ then they will dry nicely. I planted them in the right place, too... because they have been doing very well. I have a pinkish mophead hydrangea in the back... and that one I think I got wrong, because this is the first year that it's bloomed. For those, I read that you shouldn't cut them back in the fall, because that's what the new blooms form on. I need more. Must have more.

Out and About at the Chazen Museum and Memorial Union

I took M. and friend on a little field trip to the Chazen Museum today.
This Deborah Butterfield horse sculpture is one of my favorites from the permanent collection. It's actually part of ArtSmart program, a collaborative program between the museum and the school district. We had posters of this work and some of Deborah Butterfield's other works at school, and I had some lesson plans based on her work.
















This is one that M. was particularly taken with. I don't remember who the artist is, though... I'll have to look it up next time we go.












There is one Louise Nevelson work in the permanent collection. Both M. and I like the use of the violin (and cello?) bridges in the piece. Every time I see it I think about getting some old bridges to use in some assembly work. I do have a little collection of the pegs for strings... I always thought they would make great little doll pieces.













We were actually there to see an temporary exhibit: "Ringmaster: Judy Onofrio and the Art of the Circus". The museum description:
"Judy Onofrio’s life-sized sculptures of extraordinary performers, animals, and circus acts will be exhibited alongside examples of banners, posters, and carvings—drawn from the Circus World Museum collection—that have inspired her work. Onofrio’s glittering constructions are carved, molded, painted, and assembled from wood, fiberglass, beads, ceramic shards, and collected objects. With Onofrio as ringmaster, these materials take form as contortionists, acrobats, and magicians of yesteryear who once again twist, soar, and cast spells for audience..."
Photographs of the temporary exhibits are not allowed, but you can see some of the pieces that were on display at her website. I was amazed at how large the pieces were... some of them must have been 12 feet high... and so detailed.
In Ring of Fire, (third row down on the page you can get to from the "exhibition" link on the left), the woman balances without being attached to the hoop... you can see her swaying gently up in the air.
































I've probably passed by this door a million times... it's a church right in the middle of campus... between the Humanities Building, the Chazen, the University Book Store, and the Lake Street Parking Ramp (where I have spent countless hours roaming in circles looking for parking), but I don't think I've ever had a camera when I passed by the very cool doors.
We wandered over to the Union, got a Babcock Hall ice cream cone, and sat out on the terrace to watch the lake and the boats. (This is right after the major rains/flooding we had here, so the lake level is really high, and probably a bit toxic at this point, but that doesn't seem to phase anybody out there.)

Texas Barbeque

We were in Texas checking up on the old home place. On the way out of San Antonio we stop at Rudy's. We're tickled that they bill themselves as the "Worst Bar-B-Q in Texas". It's good, though. When my grandmother and great aunt did the run out to the country house, they always stopped here. In Texas it seems that barbeque is not served on plates. You get a kind of deli paper for the meat, and rectangular paper bowls or styrofoam cups for the beans and potato salad, etc. When you order your barbecue, you don't order a sandwich, you order by the pound. And the bread, at least the bread I've seen, is always from a loaf of soft white bread.











































The rest of the pictures are from Woody's, the barbeque/gas station/convenience store down the highway from the old home place. Much the same scenario... house barbeque sauce for sale, and all manner of meats and other foods for sale, including fudge, pecan pie, and those pink peanut patties I used to eat all the time when we visited grandmom in the summer. Two big stainless steel serving canisters of iced tea, one sweet and one unsweetened. Picnic tables and loaves of bread just laid out on the table... help yourself. The gentlemen behind the counter were pleased to provide samples of everything they had for sale, including buffalo and venison jerky, and elk summer sausage.